ONE OF the back-to-school rituals, deeply rooted in Jamaican folk culture, is the dreaded "wash out".
Adults of a certain generation will recall the 'bellyaching' and their seemingly endless trek to and from the bathroom, after a warm cup of a laxative, to stimulate frequent bowel action, or castor oil, given close to the end of the summer holidays. This was suppose to cleanse the system.
However, the general view of pharmacists and paediatricians is that 'the wash out' is no longer recommended.
Professor Celia Christie, University of the West Indies' (UWI's) Professor of Child Health says in fact that she can't recall it ever being recommended by the medical fraternity. There is the dehydration risk from the frequent bowel actions.
"It is not something that we learnt in Medical School and we don't teach it or recommend it. I believe that it is a ritual coming up through our folk culture and our grandmothers and grandaunts thought that we should have these 'wash outs'," she said.
Deworming though is a different thing, Professor Christie said that: "There is no harm in taking worm medicines from time to time. Our children play a lot outdoor and walk barefooted in the dirt so worms can enter through the feet," she said.
On the other hand, Herbal Practitioner, Dr. Diane Robertson, isn't throwing 'the wash out' ritual out the window (while agreeing too with the need to deworm regularly).
"Doctors have been saying we can't use it but I believe that all the degenerative diseases that we are having now is because we are not doing enough cleansing," she said.
She said that the "old time" laxatives were synthetic and the chemical could have a harsh effect on the body and children have even died using some of them, but the newer herbal cleansing preparations are gentler and better in that the synergy with the metabolism actually speeds it up.
The castor oil she said can be safely used three times per year and some senna preparations now available on the market are gentler and can be used for children as recommended on the labels.
For deworming, Dr. Robertson recommends natural stuff such as grated carrots taken three to four days, papaya seeds and a few other seeds and garlic.
